The Sadness I Feel When I Hear About Puppy Mills

You might not know what "puppy mills" are. Puppy mills are big dog-breeding operations that care more about making money than caring for the dogs. They keep dogs in really crowded and dirty places, don’t give them proper medical care, and don’t let them socialize. According to the Humane Society, there are over 10,000 puppy mills in the U.S., producing more than 2.6 million puppies every year, which makes not just the dog overpopulation problem worse, but these dogs often have many health problems .

Without meaning to gross you out, I have seen horrific videos where dogs rescued from puppy mills try to sleep standing up because in their cages had there was no space for them to sit down or dogs who are stuck to their cage wires with their own feces and hair. I will not provide links here but there are many videos on YouTube where you can see the insides of puppy mills and many organizations who team up with cops to perform raids on such places. Your blood will boil, as mine did.

Why do these places exist? Well, as is the case with most things, if the price of high-quality “product”stuff is high, there will always be demand for cheaper “items”stuff. Puppy mills are around because they’re way cheaper than actual licensed breeders. For example, a licensed breeder might sell a Poodle puppy for $2,000-2,500, but you can find a Poodle puppy on Craigslist from a puppy mill for just $300. As a consumerbuyer, if you can save around $2000a bunch of money, who wouldn’t be tempted? One of our family friend’s were sold a “hypoallergenic” dog for under $500 while a legitimate breeder would sell that for about $2500! Later, they took a DNA test, and it said that the dog had DNA from 16 different breeds.

But, because the places where these puppies grow up are so bad, they the puppies produced are effectively tortured over the course of their lifeend up costing a lot more in the long run. Puppies from mills often have health problems due tobecause of bad breeding practices, in-breeding, no vet care, and dirty living conditions. The mothers of these puppies are bred nonstop, which messes up not just their lives, but the puppies’ lives too. Imagine the moms spending their whole lives in tiny metal cages, just being bred over and over again. This lowers the quality of each litter and makes the puppies and the mom way weaker. Medical bills for treating illnesses, genetic disorders, and other problems add up, sometimes costing hundreds or thousands of dollars. Many of these puppies have a lot of health and behavior problems and end up leading a horrible quality of life.

Dogs are put in cages with wire floors so faeces falls down, but this hurts their paws

These dogs often live shorter lives and may need to be put down earlier than well-bred dogs. According to Spots, puppies from mills have a 41.6% higher risk of health problems than other dogs. Also, puppies raised in such bad environments can have behavior and mental issues issues because of all the cruelty, and need professional training or therapy, which costs more money.

Puppy mills aren’t totally illegal, but they often break a lot of animal welfare laws. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) says breeders who sell puppies need to be licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But these laws aren’t always enforced well, and the standards might not really protect the animals.

If you search ‘puppy mills’ online, you’ll see a lot of devastating pictures and videos of dogs trying to escape from cramped and dirty cages. There are many videos showing dogs being rescued, sometimes hundreds at a time. Puppy mills should be banned and illegal.